Kev Rowland One day I got a friend request on Facebook from Mattias Adolphson, and as always, I checked to see why I was hearing from him and whether it was a robot (I get that a lot). I noticed he is drummer in Stonewall Noise Orchestra and the music computer that is my brain started whirring (I often think the reason I forget everything that is not connected with music is due to there not being enough room for everything), and I recalled reviewing their 2013 album ‘Salvation’ and enjoying immensely. Of course, I accepted the friendship and now I am listening to the latest release, ‘Deathtripper’. There was an album in between this and the last one I had heard, plus they have been through a few line-up changes, so what was this going to be like?

I am always rather concerned when I am the one who has mentioned undertaking a review, as I feel bad if I give it a poor review, but given I am always honest in my opinion I have to say what I think, so I am very pleased to say this is a goodie. Doom is still the order of the day, but while there are times when they do head back to the early Seventies, there are plenty of others where they are way more commercial. At times they drift into QOTSA territory, at others more like Black Widow, but there is an element which reminds me a great deal of The Night Flight Orchestra, and not just because they have the same name. There are loads of melodies here, and the band is incredibly tight while singer Tony is in full control. They mix it up throughout, taking so many different elements of hard rock and metal, and while staying true to their doom roots they are having a blast and certainly bring the listeners along for the ride. They have had to deal with some hard personal struggles in recent years, yet they are back with an album which is passionate, powerful, and truly worthy of investigation by those who want melody front and centre with plenty of bite to back it up.

Kev Rowland Recently a few of us were asked to recommend some recent albums, and one that came up was this by S.N.O., a band unknown to me. Now, as I admire the writings of the person who made this recommendation I thought that it would be worthwhile checking them out and I am glad that I did. This Swedish band have been gigging and recording since 2004 but sound as if they would be much happier if they had been around forty years ago as this is music that belongs very much to the early Seventies. It is easy to label them as a doom band, but that is much more in the original context as opposed to Cathedral or Candlemass. Here we have some doom –laden rifss to be sure, but we also have plenty of metallic and even psychedelic influences. Sabbath are important of course, but so are Black Widow, Iron Butterfly, Mountain, Free and a whole load more. I mention Free not so much for the blues influence (as there isn’t much), but far more for the importance of the depth of vocals and guitar. Singe has a very wide voice, which provides strong balance against the meaty musicianship that is going on behind him.

This music contains much more complexity and layers than one may expect, and the more this is played then the more the listener will get from it. There is one beefy number after another, but with loads of variety and atmosphere, so that each one is greeted with eager anticipation as one doesn’t really know what to expect. A very strong album indeed, and I can see why it was recommended as I am going to do the same. Well worth investigation. www.snoband.com

Windhawk Swedish outfit STONEWALL NOISE ORCHESTRA has been an active unit since they started out back in 2004. Mostly in the European live circuit, but in between gigging they've also managed to find the time to hit the recording studio. "Sweet Mississippi Deal" is their latest studio effort, and was issued by Swedish label Transubstans Records in October 2010.

Musically this production opens with heavy compositions residing somewhere in between Soundgarden and Black Sabbath in overall expression. Steady drums and heavy bass underscore dark but warm and organic sounding guitar riffs, massive and distorted but with somewhat of a glossy and slick overall expression. The defining blues base of metal is given something of an emphasis early on, in particular on third track A Song for the Fool.

The massive creation that is One Hundred marks a shift on this CD. Apart from being a standout track in itself, and the only track where droning, psychedelic laced textures slowly crawls forth with only occasional mid-paced interludes, this track also heralds the start of a more psychedelic tinged approach for the remaining songs on this album. While the opening efforts resides pretty well inside a stoner or doom metal description, the increasing use of psychedelic details and a growing tendency to include lighter and more groove-oriented themes kicks off at this point, and in the second half of this disc there's a fair few items where the metal contents are evenly balanced out with a more distinct 70's stoner rock expression. In a case or two arguably with more of an emphasis on the latter.

The album is an engaging affair from start to finish, the band mastering their metal excursions just as well as their stoner rock flirts, and may arguably be at their best when incorporating psychedelic details in a fairly liberal manner. Stoner metal and stoner rock fans should make up something of a core audience for this act, but liberal-minded doom fans should also add this band to their list of acts to check out at a later stage. And for some reason or other, I suspect that seeing them live would be the best way to check out their booty, so to speak.